We’re off to a great start with the Freshman Bands. We’ve been playing and both bands are sounding good with great potential. We’re both very excited about the possibilities. Freshman announcements will come out each week and are posted sometime over the weekend. If you ever have any questions, feel free to contact us, email is the best way; Phillip.Chumley@lakotaonline.com or Greg.Snyder@lakotaonline.com. The next two weeks are really busy for us at the Freshman school.
- Tag Day is Saturday, Sept 8. This is our one and only fund raiser of the year where the students have to get out and do anything. Funds generated from this fund raiser go to the uniform fund, not just marching band uniforms, but also for all our concert uniforms for Symphonic Red and White bands and Symphonic Winds. We expect all the students to participate. Tag Day runs from about 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. Freshman band students will be teamed up with upper classmen as we go into the Lakota West community to solicit donations. Students should wear the Freshman Band T-shirt. This can be purchased either on line or by sending in $7 to Mr. Chumley (make checks payable to Lakota West Upbeat Club). T-shirts are due in this week and will be distributed to the students during class. Depending on the weather on Saturday, students can wear shorts or blue jeans. If you are interested in volunteering to help on Saturday, please contact Jill Trygier at tagday@lakotawestbands.org. For students who are unable to participate due to schedule conflicts, we ask for a donation in the $50 range. This is the average of what each student collects during Tag Day. Last year, we raised over $25,000 for the uniform fund.
- Freshman Night is Friday, Sept 14. All the Freshman will march during the halftime show with the Marching Firebirds. This is the first opportunity for them to get a taste of marching band. We will have two rehearsals for Freshman Night. The first rehearsal will be on Wednesday, September 12 from 3:00-4:00 pm. Students will ride the activity bus from the Freshman school to Main Campus. The marching band rehearses from 3:00-5:00 pm and the Freshman will rehearse with the Marching Firebirds for the first hour of this rehearsal. Students are welcome to stay after 4:00 and watch the remainder of the rehearsal. They will need to be picked up from Main Campus either between 4:00 and 5:00 or when rehearsal is over. The second rehearsal will be on Thursday, September 13 from 7:00-8:00 pm. This rehearsal will be in the football stadium. The rehearsal runs from 7:00-9:00 pm and we will rehearse for the first hour with the Freshmen. Parents are encouraged to stay for the remainder of rehearsal to see how things work in marching band. Thursday is called “Silvers Under the Lights”. When you come, you will see why. There are usually several hundred fans that come out to watch. The last 15 minutes of the rehearsal is a run-through of the competition show. The students will wear their marching band T-shirt and long, dark colored pants (blue jeans are acceptable) and athletic shoes. Students also need a lyre (music holder) for their instrument and a flip folder. Lyre’s have to be purchased from local music stores or online. Flip folders can be purchased from Mr. Chumley at school. Regular flip folders are $10, flute flip folders are $20 (flutes don’t need a lyre, their’s is a lyre/flip folder combo).
- On Friday, Sept 14, students will need to report to the Main Campus band room at 5:00 pm. We will have a pizza party for the Freshmen. More details about this next week.
- Sign-up sheets for Band Aides will go up on Tuesday, Sept 5. We need about 20 volunteers. Those students who volunteer will be participating in the competition show. The first performance they will be involved in will most likely be Sept 22 at Hamilton HS. Students will need to be able to rehearse on Thursday evenings with the band. Students will need to wear a plain black shirt, black pants, black socks and black shoes for this. If your student is interested in being a band aide, they can sign up beginning Tuesday.
That’s all for this week. Don’t forget Tag Day on Saturday, Sept 8, 2012.